The brief glimpses of sun shone off a pair of light grey eyes. Strands of chestnut brown hair moved over the grey orbs swiftly as the figure hunched on the floor on its hands and knees suddenly shot upward.
"You know, I reaaaally don't see how cleaning the cracks of a hardwood floor with a friggin' tooth brush for forty five freakin' minutes can be considered stamina training you sack of diluted, expiring chakra!" the figure snapped.
The Raikage smirked as he calmly took a sip of tea, "You must endure a seemingly unimportant task and keep a level head in the process. While exerting physical pressure, your mental state needs to be relaxed so you can fully embrace…"
The tooth brush was caught between the Raikage's pointer and middle finger in mid-speech. He opened an eye to glare at the girl before him.
"I'm sure you've given me that speech, along with two hundred others old man." The girl sat back on her butt and reclined backward while staring up at the ceiling.
"You realize if you were anyone else I would have surely annihilated you for throwing this at me," the man said. He gripped onto the tooth brush with barely any force as a bolt of lightning incinerated it.
The girl barely turned her head to look at him, "This isn't much of a goodbye present 'ya know…"
The man frowned. "It isn't a goodbye…don't ever say goodbye…"
"Because goodbye means never coming back, and never coming back means letting go and forgetting what you've left behind," the two said in union.
"Even if I tried I wouldn't be able to forget you," the Raikage said with a warming smile.
"I'm not surprised…but I'm sorry to say that unlike me, you're pretty easy to forget old man," the girl spoke with a joking tone.
The Raikage chuckled. "Do as you will with your memory of me, but don't let all that I've taught you slip away. It will prove useful in your near future, Rayne."
Rayne looked down at the floor. "It's already proved useful…it's saved me more than once, A. You re-taught me what I've already been taught, but more efficiently." She turned her head to face him. "I walk in your footsteps, and will tread a new path in Konoha."
He suddenly stood up and slammed his fists down onto his desk, instantly creating a defined crack. Rayne's grey orbs instantly filled with excitement; she knew what was coming. The Raikage wiped a tear from his eye.
"You have made me so proud…one more time, just for the hell of it."
'This is the A I know. Over excited and happy, yet stern and wise.'
"You saying that you walk in my footsteps is true. You really have become extremely similar to me, Rayne."
"Frightening, isn't it?" The girl scoffed as she disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Raikage jumped from where he was standing, and moments after he did, Rayne came crashing up through the floor. She landed with her legs spread, one on each side of the hole she had just created, balancing herself over it.
"What the hell do you think you're doing up there?!"
Rayne shot a glance down at the Jounin beneath her, staring up with his mouth agape.
"Pervert! What the hell do you think you're doing looking up at my crotch!" Quickly and forcefully Rayne sent three shuriken down where the Jounin was standing. Very quickly, the man fled the scene. Rayne growled and looked back up to where the Raikage was standing, just in time to receive a clash of lightning to her face.
Before she knew it, Rayne opened her eyes to see the blinding sunlight.
"Curse the sun!" She wailed as she covered her eyes, free falling downward through numerous clouds. Upon realizing she was through the wall of the tower and plummeting to the ground, Rayne made the sudden attempt to fly by flapping her arms. It was to no avail. She crashed through a tree, and hung over a branch as if she were a sheet out on a line to dry.
Groaning, Rayne attempted to regain vision as she stared at the ground. High above her she could hear the deep laugh of the Raikage.
"Of all towers in this village he picks the highest one to live in," she mumbled.
"Ahahahahaha! Did anyone else see that?! Rayne! You may be powerful, but you're nowhere near strong enough to defeat me just yet! Hahaha!"
Rayne sighed as she allowed her body to fully relax on the branch. As much as it pissed her off, she had to admit that he was right. Rayne was indeed strong; strong enough to hold her own against Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, but she was nowhere near Kage level.
'Isn't this weasel inside of me supposed to help when I'm in danger?' Rayne slumped even further on the branch. "Useless ferret…"
She sighed as she closed her eyes. Her mind drifted as the sunlight soaked into her skin. For the first time today, she was at peace. Today had been deemed the day Rayne would leave Kumogakure for Konohagakure. Why she was leaving exactly? The Raikage, A, had decided it would be the right decision to ensure her safety, while she subliminally acted as a political bridge between the two sore countries. Now that the Akatsuki knew where she was living, they needed to get her out of there.
"Whatever…" Rayne yawned as she spoke. "I'll get a little rest in before I head back…"
She stretched body forward…a little too forward. The weight of her body fell forward, causing her to flip forward off the branch, straight for the ground. As she was falling, she saw a group of people she was about to land on. A crash was heard, along with some coughing, and then some groans from Rayne as she opened her eyes to look at the sun through the cloud of dust.
"Ah! Hey! You get off of Sasuke right now!"
Where did that voice come from? Who knows. All Rayne could see was dust; lots and lots of dust and a ray or two of masked sunlight. There was sudden movement under her. Rayne rolled her body over, still on top of the form, and looked down as she supported herself on her hands.
"Hey…are you alright?" she asked cautiously.
"I'd be a lot better if you'd get off of me." What a blunt reply.
Before Rayne could say sorry, a huge gust of wind from the God's in the heavens blew the dust cloud concealing her away. She blinked as she felt a pair of angry eyes glaring at her. Looking up, she saw a pink haired shinobi…a very…angry…pink haired shinobi.
"Why are you on top of Sasuke like that! Get off of him right now I said!"
"My…Sasuke…" Rayne repeated these words to herself. Before she could ask anything, Rayne suddenly felt her back hit the ground. Since her back was sore from crashing through the Raikage's cement wall, she groaned in pain. A cold blade touched her neck.
"Who are you?" a cold voice asked.
Her grey eyes shot open and connected with a pair of onyx ones. The boy looked very suspicious of her. Hell, she had just landed on him from a tree, no wonder he probably thought of it as an attack. She couldn't really blame him, she would have thought the same. Suddenly she noticed his headband: Hidden Leaf shinobi. That could only mean one thing.
"You're here to see the Raikage, aren't you?"
He was taken aback. Why would she know this?
"Sasuke, cool down. There's no reason to cause a scene here. We are guests in this village, don't go threatening one of their own."
What a lax voice. Rayne arched her back and pressed the crown of her head to the ground so she could look behind her to see who had talked. A tall Jounnin with lopsided silver hair, a covered eye, and a mask on his face stood a few feet away.
The boy on top of Rayne sighed as he stood up and placed his kunai knife back into its proper place. He extended a hand, a light tint of pink on his face. "I…I'm…"
Rayne raised an eye brow as he choked on his words.
"Sorry." The word shot out of his half closed lips and was muttered as if he was too embarrassed to say them. Someone didn't like admitting when he was wrong. Nevertheless, Rayne's lips curled into a small smile as she grasped onto his hand. His palm was sweaty.
'Charming.'She thought as her cool palm was smothered in perspiration. He pulled her forward to him, and there they stood, eye to eye, studying each other. Rayne's brows came together in frustration as she searched his dark orbs; there was nothing there.
A half heartedly silenced growl caught Rayne's attention and her head snapped in the direction of the source; it was the pink one again.
"Do you have some sort of problem?" Rayne asked.
"Yes, quite frankly, I do have a problem."
What a smart ass answer. Rayne grit her teeth together and growled deep in her throat at the girl. Who the hell did she think she was? Suddenly, it hit her, and her expression went calm.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to land on your boyfriend!" Rayne bowed too quickly to see the reactions of the others. The girl's face color changed, instantly matching the color of her vibrant pink hair as she giggled. And the other boy who had been deemed Sasuke…he didn't seem too enthralled with Rayne's deduction. He twitched and blinked furiously.
"I apologize, but I believe that you misunderstand," the silver haired man said as he advanced. Rayne's head rose to witness the expression on the girl's face, but her head quickly turned back in the direction of the boy to her left when he grabbed her arm forcefully.
"I…am not…her boyfriend," he spat breathlessly, causing Rayne to sweat drop.
"Oh…eh heh heh…well, that's what it seemed like! How could I not come to that conclusion! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" With each "I'm sorry" Rayne bowed over and over again rapidly, creating enough wind to blow Sasuke's bangs out of his eyes.
She rose up again, only to begin to bow once more when Sasuke's hand steadied her shoulder so she couldn't move. "Enough."
Rayne blushed, obviously embarrassed, and couldn't help but say it once more. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," Sasuke said with a stoic face. "It was nothing to apologize for." To this Rayne simply gave a half hearted smile.
'What a first impression to make to my new team.' She thought. 'You're such a loser.'
"Gah! Sasuke! Why do you always have to get the pretty girls?!"
A new voice. Sasuke's hand withdrew from Rayne's shoulder, allowing her to turn around. It was another boy, also a leaf shinobi, but his aura was extremely different than Sasuke's. He was like a fire cracker waiting to be lit. Rayne gaped at his blue eyes, and when he noticed that they had made eye contact, the boy blushed and turned his head to the side. When Rayne saw his cheeks, she instantly took note of the marks on them.
"Naruto, you're such an idiot. There's no way Sasuke would even be going after someone while we're on a mission! He's extremely concentrated and dedicated, unlike you. When there's something to be done, he does it, without complaining. When there's an opponent, he quickly strikes, and…"
"Blah blah blah blah blah," Rayne muttered as her lazy eyes glared at the pink haired girl. It was Sasuke this and Sasuke that. Talk about infatuation. Rayne looked at the "amazing" Sasuke she was "so lucky" to be standing next to.
"Looks like you have a fan."
He looked at her, his onyx eyes connecting with her grey ones once more. "You have no idea."
"You know…" Rayne pondered as her finger taped her chin. "I really don't think I want one."
A low scoff was heard from him as he turned his attention to the approaching ecstatic blond. Rayne's attention also turned to him. Again, the boy blushed.
"S-so…what's your name, huh?" He kicked the dirt beneath his sandals. By this time, the pink one had shut up. Nothing could be heard except the boy's heavy breathing. It was if the world had gone silent.
"Well, if you wouldn't mind, considering you are an alien to my village…would you tell me yours first?" Rayne asked with a warming smile.
The boy laughed nervously and blushed. It was the first time someone had ever responded to him like this, well, other than Hinata of course.
"Well, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen in a cup, and I love pulling pranks on people! I'm going to be the greatest ninja ever so I can become-"
"Idiot. She asked for your name, not your life story." Sasuke growled.
"…the next…Hokage…" Naruto trailed off.
Lord Almighty was Sasuke a buzz killer.
"Sasuke," Rayne turned around to him quickly with a sarcastic smile. "You're such a party pooper."
He scoffed.
"Would you stop doing that?"
"What?"
"Scoffing."
"Tsh…"
"I said stop it!"
"Stop what."
"Hey! Hey! I answered your question, n-now you answer mine!" Naruto desperately tried to separate the two as they glared, lightning crashing between their eyes.
Rayne backed away, but Sasuke continued staring with narrow eyes. "Well…I'm Rayne. Rayne Sayomi! Uh…since you told me what you liked, uh…I li-"
"YOU'RE RAYNE?!" Naruto suddenly screamed in her face, his spit landing on her cheek.
"Well…I DID just state that."
He jumped up in the air, and upon landing on the ground, did a little jig.
"This is so awesome! I never expected you to be so pretty! Now I have two pretty girls on my team, one of which actually TALKS to me! This day couldn't get any better! It's the best day of my life! It's-"
His collar was grabbed and he was yanked up in the air by the Jounin with silver hair who had an annoyed look on his face.
"I'm disappointed…not only in you, Naruto, but in all of you." He began as he looked at the other two Leaf shinobi. Rayne took that with surprise.
'Me?! He better not be saying he's disappointed with me! I don't even know the guy! What the hell is he talking about?!'
"I understand how Naruto could have missed it, but you two? Sakura, Sasuke, both of you were at the top of your class at the academy, and neither of you recognized Rayne? After all that we've gone through already, and you're lacking in your observation skills?"
The two of them hung their heads in embarrassment.
'Jeez…what a killjoy…' Rayne thought. She felt a need to come to their defense, not so much for Sakura, but for Naruto…and Sasuke too, she guessed.
"Dude…calm down. So what if they didn't recognize me? What'd you show them, a picture? How could you expect them to instantly recognize a face when they've only seen it once in their lifetime?" She questioned. Not the best defense, but hey, it was something.
"They're ninja; they should notice these things by now." He instantly replied. How forward.
Rayne was flustered. "Well…well you know what? YOU are an ASSHOLE!"
'She just…she just cursed at Kakashi Sensei!' Sakura thought.
The silver haired man sighed as he dropped Naruto who didn't land too gracefully.
"The Hokage said you might be a bit difficult…" he rubbed the back of his neck. "My name is Kakashi Hatake…and I'll be your Sensei from now on."
Sasuke finally registered what was going on. "You…you're our new team mate?"
Rayne turned around and faced him again. Yet again their eyes made contact.
'He likes eye contact when he talks…a sign that he likes to be respected. Hm…not bad.'
Other than the eye color, Rayne noted the fact that he looked awfully similar to a certain person she had come in contact with once or twice before.
"Yeah…I'm Rayne Sayomi. It's nice to…well, formally be introduced." She replied, extending her hand to him this time.
He looked at it, then grasped it lightly. "Sasuke Uchiha."
Rayne could have swore she went as white as a ghost. She could feel her veins pump blood to her heart faster. Her grip on his hand loosened as her eyes stared back into his. He was an Uchiha; she knew she had recognized the face. He confirmed her suspicion, in some way or another, this boy was affiliated with him, there was no denying that.
It only took a few seconds for Sasuke to realize something was wrong. "Are…you alright? You're pale."
She felt her body shift suddenly as her heart almost beat its way out of her chest. Her blood boiled as his name was played over in and over in her head like a broken record.
She shut her eyes tightly. 'Uchiha…Uchiha…'
"Rayne?" He calmly called out to her.
She raised her head, opening her eyes to connect with his black orbs again. She growled inwardly. 'Itachi…'